Marnie Sings ‘Stronger’ on ‘Girls’
Despite my access to several streaming platforms, and therefore a plethora of television show options, I recently started watching “Girls” again. When it first came out it was my favourite show ever, and I watched every episode with anticipation, even after the controversy and up until the very last episode of the poorly executed and boring last season. At fourteen, one of the greatest appeals of the show was that i imagined my future playing out very much in the same way: moving to New York post-graduation, doing bad and uncomfortable things in order to write about them, and experiencing life as if I was the title character in a Broadway musical. Watching the show at 22 is a very different experience. For one thing, my old romantic heart beats slower these days. For another, my 14 year old brain could not appreciate the pure comedy that is the show.
There is one particular moment that had me laughing so hard I had to bury my mouth in my pillow. It comes late in the second season, in an episode titled “On All Fours.” Marnie, Shoshanna, and Ray all attend a party hosted by Charlie, Marnie’s ex, who is now a wealthy tech founder. In a fit of desperation and a desire to prove to Charlie and his judgemental coworkers that she’s more than some unsuccessful leech, Marnie decides to perform a song to congratulate them. More specifically, she decides to perform Kanye West’s “Stronger” in the way only a person who forces their best friend into duets from “Rent” can. The moment is embarrassing in a myriad of ways. There’s the ridiculousness of her singing “you can be my white Kate Moss tonight.” Her robotic dance moves. Her Ann Taylor Loft dress. The performativity of her self-deprecation. The performativity of her bravado. The moment is so cringe, and Marnie’s persistence in the face of the humiliation is gut-bustingly hilarious. But it’s also a bit sad.
Earlier in the episode, Marnie revealed to Ray (played by Alex Karpovsky) that it had always been her dream to sing. Despite his surprise and great hesitation, Ray encourages Marnie to pursue her dream, and her performance at Charlie’s party is her way of doing that. Although it is attention seeking and delusional, Marnie’s performance is a character’s desperate grasp at her dream. Not only the dream of being a singer, but the dream of a life that could be found in the pages of Vogue magazine. She sees Charlie as the key to that dream and her performance is her way of trying to convince him that any problems they’ve had in the past have only made them “harder, better, faster, stronger.” It’s a moment that captures Marnie’s personality and is a continuation of her practice of tying her dreams to other people. She does it throughout the show, often to her detriment, and yet she persists on that course of action. If “Girls” was made a few years ago, “Nevertheless she persisted” shirts would be made about Marnie Michaels.